Piano history and musical performance
Encyclopedia
The piano
has evolved technologically more than any other musical instrument, giving rise to difficult issues involving the performance of music written for earlier pianos.
The earliest pianos by Cristofori
(ca. 1700) were lightweight objects, hardly sturdier in framing than a contemporary harpsichord
, with thin strings of wrought iron and brass and tiny hammers covered with leather. During the Classical era, when pianos first became used widely by important composers, the piano was only somewhat more robust than in Cristofori's time; see fortepiano
. It was during the period from about 1790 to 1870 that most of the important changes were made that created the modern piano:
The prototype of the modern piano, with all of these changes in place, was exhibited to general acclaim by Steinway
at the Paris exhibition of 1867; by about 1900, most leading piano manufacturers had incorporated most of these changes.
These huge changes in the piano have somewhat vexing consequences for musical performance. The problem is that much of the most widely admired piano repertoire was composed for a type of instrument that is very different from the modern instruments on which this music is normally performed today. The greatest difference is in the pianos used by the composers of the Classical era; for example, Haydn
, Mozart
, and Beethoven
. But lesser difference are found for later composers as well. The music of the early Romantics, such as Chopin
and Schumann
--and even of still later composers (see below) --was written for pianos substantially different from ours.
One view that is sometimes taken is that these composers were dissatisfied with their pianos, and in fact were writing visionary "music of the future" with a more robust sound in mind. This view is perhaps plausible in the case of Beethoven, who composed at the beginning of the era of piano growth. However, many aspects of earlier music can be mentioned suggesting that it was composed very much with contemporary instruments in mind. It is these aspects that raise the greatest difficulties when a performer attempts to render earlier works on a modern instrument.
Classical composers sometimes wrote long passages in which the player is directed to keep the damper pedal down throughout. One example occurs in Haydn
's Piano Sonata H. XVI/50, from 1794-1795; and two later well-known instances occur in Beethoven's work: in the last movement of the "Waldstein" sonata
, Op. 53; and the entire first movement of the "Moonlight" sonata
, Op. 27 No. 2. Because of the great sustain time of a modern piano, these passages sound very blurred and dissonant if the pedal is pressed all the way down and held for the duration of the passage. Thus, modern pianists typically modify their playing style to help compensate for the difference in instruments, for example by lifting the pedal discreetly (and often partially), or by half or quarter-pedaling. For further discussion of such modifications, see Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven)
.
, in The Classical Style (p. 353) offers a clear characterization of the problems that arise in Classical-era works:
The una corda pedal is also called the "soft pedal". On grand pianos (both modern and historical), it shifts the action sideways, so that the hammers do not strike every string of a note. (There are normally three strings, except in the lower range.)
On the modern piano, the soft pedal can only reduce the number of strings struck from three to two, whereas the pianos of the classical era were more flexible, permitting the player to select whether the hammers would strike three strings, two, or just one. The very term "una corda", Italian for "one string", is thus an anachronism as applied to modern pianos.
In two of his best known works for piano Beethoven made full use of the capabilities of the "una corda" stop.
Concerning the Fourth Piano Concerto example, Owen Jander has written, "the una corda on [the type of piano for which Beethoven wrote the concerto] is hauntingly beautiful and evocative. To shift the action from the una corda position to the full tre-corde position produces only a slight increase in volume; what is exciting is the unfolding of the timbre
of the instrument."
movement have constructed new copies of the old instruments and used them (or occasionally, restored originals) in performance. This form of musical exploration, which has been widely pursued for the music of the Classical era, has provided important new insights and interpretations of the music. It has also made it possible to get a clearer idea of what a Classical composer meant in specifying particular pedaling directions; thus, performances of Beethoven's works on historical pianos can and typically do respect the composer's own pedal marks.
. This instrument was made in 1868 by the Streicher firm, which was run by the descendants of the great pioneer 18th century maker Johann Andreas Stein
. It was given by the Streicher company to Brahms in 1873 and was kept and used by him for composition until his death in 1897. The piano was evidently destroyed during the Second World War. Piano scholar Edwin Good (1986; see References below) has examined a very similar Streicher piano made in 1870, with the goal of finding out more about Brahms's instrument. This 1870 Streicher has leather (not felt) hammers, a rather light metal frame (with just two tension bars), a range of just seven octaves (four notes short of the modern range), straight (rather than cross-) stringing, and a rather light Viennese action, a more robust version of the kind created a century earlier by Stein.
Good observes (p. 201): "the tone, especially in the bass, is open, has relatively strong higher partials than a Steinway would have, and gives a somewhat distinct, though not hard, sound." He goes on to note the implications of these differences for the performance of Brahms's music:
Although the revival of later such 19th century pianos has not been pursued to anywhere near the extent seen in the Classical fortepiano, the effort has from time to time been made; for instance, the pianist Jörg Demus
has issued a recording of Brahms's works as performed on pianos of his day. http://inkpot.com/classical/brahmstimbres.html
preferred the Bechstein, Maurice Ravel
liked the glassy sound of the Erard."
Thus, even for major composers of the first part of the 20th century, the possibility exists that performers might profitably experiment with what would count as "authentic" pianos, in light of the particular composer's own musical preferences. To this end the pianist Gwendolyn Mok has recently made commercial recordings of Ravel's music on an 1875 Erard piano; see External Links below.
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
has evolved technologically more than any other musical instrument, giving rise to difficult issues involving the performance of music written for earlier pianos.
Background
Bartolomeo Cristofori
Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco was an Italian maker of musical instruments, generally regarded as the inventor of the piano.-Life:...
(ca. 1700) were lightweight objects, hardly sturdier in framing than a contemporary harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
, with thin strings of wrought iron and brass and tiny hammers covered with leather. During the Classical era, when pianos first became used widely by important composers, the piano was only somewhat more robust than in Cristofori's time; see fortepiano
Fortepiano
Fortepiano designates the early version of the piano, from its invention by the Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700 up to the early 19th century. It was the instrument for which Haydn, Mozart, and the early Beethoven wrote their piano music...
. It was during the period from about 1790 to 1870 that most of the important changes were made that created the modern piano:
- An increase in pitch range, from five octaves (see image at right) to the modern standard of seven and 1/3 octaves.
- iron framing, culminating in the single-piece cast iron frame
- ultra-tough steel stringsPiano wirePiano wire, or "music wire", is a specialized type of wire made for use in piano strings, as well as many other purposes. It is made from tempered high-carbon steel, also known as spring steel.-Manufacture and use:...
, with three strings per note in the upper 2/3 of the instrument's range - felt hammers
- cross-stringingCross-stringingCross-stringing is a method of arranging piano strings inside the case of a piano so that the strings are placed in a vertically overlapping slanted arrangement, with two heights of bridges on the soundboard instead of just one. This permits larger, but not necessarily longer, strings to fit...
- the repetition action
- in general, an enormous increase in weight and robustness. A modern Steinway Model D weighs 480 kg (990 lb), about six times the weight of a late 18th century SteinJohann Andreas SteinJohann Andreas Stein, was an outstanding German maker of keyboard instruments, a central figure in the history of the piano...
piano. http://niederfellabrunn.at/KdF/MeinFtpE.pdf - The hammers and action became much heavier, so that the touch (keyweight) of a modern piano is several times heavier than that of an 18th century piano.
The prototype of the modern piano, with all of these changes in place, was exhibited to general acclaim by Steinway
Steinway & Sons
Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway , is an American and German manufacturer of handmade pianos, founded 1853 in Manhattan in New York City by German immigrant Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg...
at the Paris exhibition of 1867; by about 1900, most leading piano manufacturers had incorporated most of these changes.
These huge changes in the piano have somewhat vexing consequences for musical performance. The problem is that much of the most widely admired piano repertoire was composed for a type of instrument that is very different from the modern instruments on which this music is normally performed today. The greatest difference is in the pianos used by the composers of the Classical era; for example, Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
, Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, and Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
. But lesser difference are found for later composers as well. The music of the early Romantics, such as Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
and Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
--and even of still later composers (see below) --was written for pianos substantially different from ours.
One view that is sometimes taken is that these composers were dissatisfied with their pianos, and in fact were writing visionary "music of the future" with a more robust sound in mind. This view is perhaps plausible in the case of Beethoven, who composed at the beginning of the era of piano growth. However, many aspects of earlier music can be mentioned suggesting that it was composed very much with contemporary instruments in mind. It is these aspects that raise the greatest difficulties when a performer attempts to render earlier works on a modern instrument.
Sustain time
The modern piano has a considerably greater sustain time than the classical-era piano. Thus, notes played in accompaniment lines will stay loud longer, and thus cover up any subsequent melodic notes more than they would have on the instrument that the composer had used. This is felt to be a particular impediment to realizing the characteristic textural clarity of Classical-era works. As an anonymous commentator (see References below) writes, "[the] earlier instruments all demonstrate a lighter and clearer sound than their modern counterparts. Lines can emerge more clearly; rapid passages and ornaments are more easily enunciated by instruments whose main purpose is not volume and power."Pedal marks in Classical-era works
During the Classical era, the damper pedal was generally not used as it is in later music; that is, as a more or less constant amplication and modulation of the basic piano sound. Instead, pedaling was employed as a particular expressive effect, applied to certain individual musical passages.Classical composers sometimes wrote long passages in which the player is directed to keep the damper pedal down throughout. One example occurs in Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
's Piano Sonata H. XVI/50, from 1794-1795; and two later well-known instances occur in Beethoven's work: in the last movement of the "Waldstein" sonata
Piano Sonata No. 21 (Beethoven)
The Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53, also known as the Waldstein, is considered to be one of Beethoven's greatest piano sonatas, as well as one of the three particularly notable sonatas of his middle period . The sonata was completed in the summer of 1804...
, Op. 53; and the entire first movement of the "Moonlight" sonata
Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven)
The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2, by Ludwig van Beethoven, popularly known as the Moonlight Sonata , was completed in 1801...
, Op. 27 No. 2. Because of the great sustain time of a modern piano, these passages sound very blurred and dissonant if the pedal is pressed all the way down and held for the duration of the passage. Thus, modern pianists typically modify their playing style to help compensate for the difference in instruments, for example by lifting the pedal discreetly (and often partially), or by half or quarter-pedaling. For further discussion of such modifications, see Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven)
Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven)
The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2, by Ludwig van Beethoven, popularly known as the Moonlight Sonata , was completed in 1801...
.
Ensemble issues
Pianos are often played in chamber ensembles with string instruments, which also evolved considerably during the 19th century. Charles RosenCharles Rosen
Charles Rosen is an American pianist and author on music.-Life and career:In his youth he studied piano with Moriz Rosenthal. Rosenthal, born in 1862, had been a student of Franz Liszt...
, in The Classical Style (p. 353) offers a clear characterization of the problems that arise in Classical-era works:
- "Instrumental changes since the eighteenth century have made a problem out of the balance of sound in ... all chamber music with piano. Violin necks (including, of course, even those of the Stradivariuses and Guarneris) have been lengthened, making the strings tauter; the bows are used today with hairs considerably more tight as well. The sound is a good deal more brilliant, fatter, and more penetrating. ... The piano, in turn, has become louder, richer, even mushier in sound, and, above all, less wiry and metallic. This change makes nonsense out of all those passages in eighteenth-century music where the violin and the piano play the same melody in thirds, with the violin below the piano. Both the piano and the violin are now louder, but the piano is less piercing, the violin more. Violinists today have to make an effort of self-sacrifice to allow the piano to sing out softly ... The thinner sound of the violin in Haydn's day blended more easily with the metallic sonority of the contemporary piano and made it possible for each to accompany the other without strain."
The una corda pedal
The una corda pedal is also called the "soft pedal". On grand pianos (both modern and historical), it shifts the action sideways, so that the hammers do not strike every string of a note. (There are normally three strings, except in the lower range.)
On the modern piano, the soft pedal can only reduce the number of strings struck from three to two, whereas the pianos of the classical era were more flexible, permitting the player to select whether the hammers would strike three strings, two, or just one. The very term "una corda", Italian for "one string", is thus an anachronism as applied to modern pianos.
In two of his best known works for piano Beethoven made full use of the capabilities of the "una corda" stop.
- In the Piano Sonata, Op. 101Piano Sonata No. 28 (Beethoven)Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101, was written in 1816 and was dedicated to the pianist Baroness Dorothea Ertmann. This piano sonata runs for about 20 minutes and consists of four movements:...
(1816), he marks the beginning of the third movement with the words "Mit einer Saite", German for "on one string". At the end of this movement, there is a passage that forms a continuous transition to the following movement. Here, Beethoven writes "Nach und nach mehrere Saite", "gradually more strings". - More elaborate instructions are given in the second movement of the Fourth Piano ConcertoPiano Concerto No. 4 (Beethoven)Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58, was composed in 1805–1806, although no autograph copy survives.-Musical forces and movements:...
: during a long crescendo trill at the start of the cadenza, "due e poi tre corde", Italian for "two and then three strings" (the movement up to this point has been played una corda). The effect is reversed on a long decrescendo trill at the end of the cadenza: "due poi una corda".
Concerning the Fourth Piano Concerto example, Owen Jander has written, "the una corda on [the type of piano for which Beethoven wrote the concerto] is hauntingly beautiful and evocative. To shift the action from the una corda position to the full tre-corde position produces only a slight increase in volume; what is exciting is the unfolding of the timbre
Timbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
of the instrument."
Historically informed performance
Not all performers attempt to adapt the older music to the modern instruments: participants in the historically informed performanceHistorically informed performance
Historically informed performance is an approach in the performance of music and theater. Within this approach, the performance adheres to state-of-the-art knowledge of the aesthetic criteria of the period in which the music or theatre work was conceived...
movement have constructed new copies of the old instruments and used them (or occasionally, restored originals) in performance. This form of musical exploration, which has been widely pursued for the music of the Classical era, has provided important new insights and interpretations of the music. It has also made it possible to get a clearer idea of what a Classical composer meant in specifying particular pedaling directions; thus, performances of Beethoven's works on historical pianos can and typically do respect the composer's own pedal marks.
Differences in pianos used by later composers
Although most of the scholarly focus on differences in pianos covers the Classical era, it is also true that even in the Romantic era—and later—the pianos for which the great composers wrote were not the same as the pianos that are generally used today in performing their music.Brahms
One example is the last piano owned by Johannes BrahmsJohannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
. This instrument was made in 1868 by the Streicher firm, which was run by the descendants of the great pioneer 18th century maker Johann Andreas Stein
Johann Andreas Stein
Johann Andreas Stein, was an outstanding German maker of keyboard instruments, a central figure in the history of the piano...
. It was given by the Streicher company to Brahms in 1873 and was kept and used by him for composition until his death in 1897. The piano was evidently destroyed during the Second World War. Piano scholar Edwin Good (1986; see References below) has examined a very similar Streicher piano made in 1870, with the goal of finding out more about Brahms's instrument. This 1870 Streicher has leather (not felt) hammers, a rather light metal frame (with just two tension bars), a range of just seven octaves (four notes short of the modern range), straight (rather than cross-) stringing, and a rather light Viennese action, a more robust version of the kind created a century earlier by Stein.
Good observes (p. 201): "the tone, especially in the bass, is open, has relatively strong higher partials than a Steinway would have, and gives a somewhat distinct, though not hard, sound." He goes on to note the implications of these differences for the performance of Brahms's music:
- "to hear Brahms's music on an instrument like the Streicher is to realize that the thick textures we associate with his work, the sometimes muddy chords in the bass and the occasionally woolly sonorities, come cleaner and clearer on a lighter, straight-strung piano. Those textures, then, are not a fault of Brahms's piano composition. To be sure, any sensitive pianist can avoid making Brahms sound murky on a modern piano. The point is that the modern pianist must strive to avoid that effect, must work at lightening the dark colors, where Brahms himself, playing his Streicher, did not have to work at it."
Although the revival of later such 19th century pianos has not been pursued to anywhere near the extent seen in the Classical fortepiano, the effort has from time to time been made; for instance, the pianist Jörg Demus
Jörg Demus
Jörg Demus is an Austrian pianist.At the age of six, Demus received his first piano lessons. Five years later, at the age of 11, he entered the Vienna Academy of Music, studying piano and conducting. He graduated in 1945, then 17 years old...
has issued a recording of Brahms's works as performed on pianos of his day. http://inkpot.com/classical/brahmstimbres.html
Ravel
Good (1986) also describes an 1894 piano made by the Erard company of Paris. This instrument is straight- (not cross-) strung, has only seven octaves, and uses iron bracing but not a full frame. According to Good (p. 216) "[while] some Erards were the equal in volume and richness of Steinways and Bechsteins ..., the "typical" Erard sound was lighter than that of its competitors." He goes on to say "though Claude DebussyClaude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
preferred the Bechstein, Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
liked the glassy sound of the Erard."
Thus, even for major composers of the first part of the 20th century, the possibility exists that performers might profitably experiment with what would count as "authentic" pianos, in light of the particular composer's own musical preferences. To this end the pianist Gwendolyn Mok has recently made commercial recordings of Ravel's music on an 1875 Erard piano; see External Links below.
See also
- Historically informed performanceHistorically informed performanceHistorically informed performance is an approach in the performance of music and theater. Within this approach, the performance adheres to state-of-the-art knowledge of the aesthetic criteria of the period in which the music or theatre work was conceived...
- Bartolomeo CristoforiBartolomeo CristoforiBartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco was an Italian maker of musical instruments, generally regarded as the inventor of the piano.-Life:...
- FortepianoFortepianoFortepiano designates the early version of the piano, from its invention by the Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700 up to the early 19th century. It was the instrument for which Haydn, Mozart, and the early Beethoven wrote their piano music...
- PianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
- Piano pedalsPiano pedalsPiano pedals are foot-operated levers at the base of a piano which change the instrument's sound in various ways. Modern pianos usually have three pedals, from left to right, the soft pedal , the sostenuto pedal , and the sustaining pedal...
- Piano wirePiano wirePiano wire, or "music wire", is a specialized type of wire made for use in piano strings, as well as many other purposes. It is made from tempered high-carbon steel, also known as spring steel.-Manufacture and use:...
External links
- Web site of pianist Gwendolyn Mok, with discussion of her recordings of Ravel on an Erard piano.
- Video: Fortepianist Malcolm BilsonMalcolm BilsonMalcolm Bilson is an American pianist specializing in performance on the fortepiano, which is the 18th century version of the piano. Bilson is the Frederick J...
demonstrates the use of the fortepiano's soft pedal in playing one, two, or three strings per note. - Calgary, Alberta: Home of the Cantos Music Foundation - This interactive collection of historical musical instruments must be seen.